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Fulham : USA :: Manchester City : ____?____

What do the 3 stars mean, anyway?

A) Guyana
B) Mozambique
C) Mexico
D) Slovakia
E) Russia

The answer, my friends, is always C.

Man City, having picked up Nery Castillo in the January transfer window, is now rumored to be preparing a bid to pry Giovanni dos Santos (Johnny Two Saints) from Barcelona. Look at that little baby face. Ricky Hatton would love to have that around. You know, to make him look more like an actual fighter.

The question is, is this a new trend or a continuation of an old one? In the 1979 FA Cup final, Arsenal took on Manchester United. Unlike just five years prior, when the game was only contested by Englishmen, this game featured a mix from around the Isles. Arsenal started 3 Irishmen as well as 3 Northern Irish. Manchester United started five Scots and only three Englishmen. It would seem that the teams were buying groups of players that they felt would compete well together because of shared background.

I say that this is the rough equivalent of what some teams are doing today. You can definitely see it when looking at Fulham under Lawrie Sanchez and Roy Hodgson. Besides the five Americans, Sanchez also brought in a couple of Northern Irish players. Of course, when you look at the results for Fulham this season, perhaps Sven-Goran should get the hint and let Johnny Two Saints land somewhere else.